Afghanistan is the latest country to condemn the publication of the caricatures of Muhammad with the body of a dog in newspaper Nerikes Allehanda. Meanwhile, a leading Swedish newspaper has said Sweden should not apologize.

A leading Swedish newspaper on Saturday said the country should not apologize for the recent publication of a cartoon of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad which has inflamed devout Muslims around the world.Dagens Nyheter said in an editorial Sweden "has a duty from now on to defend its principles and present an open dialogue". It said offended Muslims would not receive the apologies they are asking for.Nerikes Allehanda published the cartoon on August 18th to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of expression and religion.

Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist in question, said he had no intention to apologize."You must be allowed to criticise religion, but I am not opposed to Islam," he told Danish agency Ritzau. He had, in the past, also drawn a "Jewish sow", Vilks said. He also said he had received death threats.Svenska Dagbladet, another broadsheet, said Sweden was now in a situation "which could escalate and slip away from Swedish control".

On Friday, 200 Muslims protested in Örebro, a town west of Stockholm where Nerikes Allehanda is based.Ulf Johanssen, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, spoke with the head of the demonstration, but refused to offer any excuses to the protesters.